(no subject)
Sorry I haven't updated here in a while, things have been crazy busy.
I have an official diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. Sucks but there it is.
Billy is awesome. Gypsy is having a hard time adjusting to retirement.
I have one more week of classes, then finals and I am done for the semester. No summer classes this year, I just can't handle it.
I'm also writing a book.
So I've had more than enough to be getting on with . . . so what did I do? I went for CRAZY ROAD TRIPS!
On April 19th I packed up my car, swung by my friends' house and piled them inside too. Then we struck out for DeCordova Museum and the amazing talents of Joanna Kimball of Ruffly Speaking Photography for our amazing second session.
Sitting on a rock with my best friends.
Loving on my baby.
Billy and Gypsy have a noble!
Gypsy being cute.
Billy being skinny and awkward.
Dixon is the Duck Tolling Retriever in the front, then Billy and the black dog behind him is Embyr. If you remember from before Dixon and Embyr are also service dogs.
A very poor stack (I'm a crappy handler) for Billy's breeder so that she can see that he's in decent shape. A little thin, but he's put that weight back on since.
This photo was mostly focused on our various service dogs and intended to help Joanna with her portfolio, and us with our educational stuffs. There are many more pictures and I will share them when I get them all, I promise, this is just a brief sneak peak.
There was supposed to be a fourth service dog team as part of the photo shoot but they had a last min emergency and couldn't make it, so we changed plans yet again and I joined my other two friends on their trip to Salem.
Gypsy got abandoned in the hotel room with Dixon (his handler is also training a SDiT) while we headed out to check out the tourist traps. It was fascinating, and sketchy all at the same time. Billy was incredible and didn't have any real issues. He sometimes showed some worry/anxiety over new situations and ended up having a bad reaction to the food I brought (Taste of the Wild has MUCH to high a protein for him.)
From the left, Ranger (omg he got HUGE) Billy and Embyr.
From the left Embyr, Ranger and Billy. I think Ranger may be tall than Billy when he's done growing. He's about 5 1/2 months old in these pictures I think.
I am so proud of how Billy handled that weekend. It was crazy, stressful, fun and WAY more than I should have thrown at him all at once, but he stepped right up and was wonderful. He did is job, hit on a few alerts, did LOTS of balance work and generally kept me in awe of him.
We got back and I got back to work for school crap, stupid school.
And then on the 27th I decided to do it all again, this time, destination RODENTFEST.
Yes it was that sketchy. :P I left Gypsy with my boyfriend (she was not amused) and headed out with Billy, Embyr's handler, Embyr and our fearless driver, who surprisingly enough is one of my few friends who is NOT a service dog handler. Rodentfest is held in Leesport, PA twice a year, about half a mile from my VERY good friend Val's place. So the plan was to drive down on the 28th for the fest, crash a Val's and drive back the 29th.
We also were only going to get a few mice.
This was about halfway through. We went back in for more. None of them came home with me, more's the pity, but I'll be helping with the mousery as a bookkeeper.
Billy doesn't HAVE a prey drive, which is odd to me. He was SO gentle with the few rodents he met and mostly ignored the rest. He was completely fearless the whole day and did alerts and tasks as needed. I really am beginning to trust that he can take care of me. This is a VERY important step in our relationship because it means that I can move forward with his training and allow Gypsy to relax in her retirement.
As you can see they were exemplary service dogs.
And of course after all this crazyness, Billy got plenty of time to unwind with his friends.
Rugby style!
Emy is the fastest dog I know.
Billy seems to be happy with his life. He is getting into the routine of having a job and helping me as needed, he seems to enjoy that part a lot. He also enjoys our walks and playing with his dog friends. Gypsy loves him. She seems to not be jealous of him at all (a problem we had with Dusty and Cooper) but she is having trouble adjusting to being left behind. I've been trying to do more fun things one on one with her, but I've got a lot on my plate. She still gets to go on date nights with me though as all she has to do is walk from the car to the restaurant and keep an eye out for alerts and grounding work.
I have an official diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. Sucks but there it is.
Billy is awesome. Gypsy is having a hard time adjusting to retirement.
I have one more week of classes, then finals and I am done for the semester. No summer classes this year, I just can't handle it.
I'm also writing a book.
So I've had more than enough to be getting on with . . . so what did I do? I went for CRAZY ROAD TRIPS!
On April 19th I packed up my car, swung by my friends' house and piled them inside too. Then we struck out for DeCordova Museum and the amazing talents of Joanna Kimball of Ruffly Speaking Photography for our amazing second session.
Sitting on a rock with my best friends.
Loving on my baby.
Billy and Gypsy have a noble!
Gypsy being cute.
Billy being skinny and awkward.
Dixon is the Duck Tolling Retriever in the front, then Billy and the black dog behind him is Embyr. If you remember from before Dixon and Embyr are also service dogs.
A very poor stack (I'm a crappy handler) for Billy's breeder so that she can see that he's in decent shape. A little thin, but he's put that weight back on since.
This photo was mostly focused on our various service dogs and intended to help Joanna with her portfolio, and us with our educational stuffs. There are many more pictures and I will share them when I get them all, I promise, this is just a brief sneak peak.
There was supposed to be a fourth service dog team as part of the photo shoot but they had a last min emergency and couldn't make it, so we changed plans yet again and I joined my other two friends on their trip to Salem.
Gypsy got abandoned in the hotel room with Dixon (his handler is also training a SDiT) while we headed out to check out the tourist traps. It was fascinating, and sketchy all at the same time. Billy was incredible and didn't have any real issues. He sometimes showed some worry/anxiety over new situations and ended up having a bad reaction to the food I brought (Taste of the Wild has MUCH to high a protein for him.)
From the left, Ranger (omg he got HUGE) Billy and Embyr.
From the left Embyr, Ranger and Billy. I think Ranger may be tall than Billy when he's done growing. He's about 5 1/2 months old in these pictures I think.
I am so proud of how Billy handled that weekend. It was crazy, stressful, fun and WAY more than I should have thrown at him all at once, but he stepped right up and was wonderful. He did is job, hit on a few alerts, did LOTS of balance work and generally kept me in awe of him.
We got back and I got back to work for school crap, stupid school.
And then on the 27th I decided to do it all again, this time, destination RODENTFEST.
Yes it was that sketchy. :P I left Gypsy with my boyfriend (she was not amused) and headed out with Billy, Embyr's handler, Embyr and our fearless driver, who surprisingly enough is one of my few friends who is NOT a service dog handler. Rodentfest is held in Leesport, PA twice a year, about half a mile from my VERY good friend Val's place. So the plan was to drive down on the 28th for the fest, crash a Val's and drive back the 29th.
We also were only going to get a few mice.
This was about halfway through. We went back in for more. None of them came home with me, more's the pity, but I'll be helping with the mousery as a bookkeeper.
Billy doesn't HAVE a prey drive, which is odd to me. He was SO gentle with the few rodents he met and mostly ignored the rest. He was completely fearless the whole day and did alerts and tasks as needed. I really am beginning to trust that he can take care of me. This is a VERY important step in our relationship because it means that I can move forward with his training and allow Gypsy to relax in her retirement.
As you can see they were exemplary service dogs.
And of course after all this crazyness, Billy got plenty of time to unwind with his friends.
Rugby style!
Emy is the fastest dog I know.
Billy seems to be happy with his life. He is getting into the routine of having a job and helping me as needed, he seems to enjoy that part a lot. He also enjoys our walks and playing with his dog friends. Gypsy loves him. She seems to not be jealous of him at all (a problem we had with Dusty and Cooper) but she is having trouble adjusting to being left behind. I've been trying to do more fun things one on one with her, but I've got a lot on my plate. She still gets to go on date nights with me though as all she has to do is walk from the car to the restaurant and keep an eye out for alerts and grounding work.